Arsenic Dumping in Fort Myers

Not long after an investigative story appeared in the Fort Myers News Press, a “no trespassing” sign appeared on what was once considered public land in the heart of the Fort Myers’ Dunbar neighborhood.

That newspaper report found that the city dumped toxic sludge there 50 years ago, didn’t tell any of the neighbors, and haven’t cordoned off the area or cleaned it up.

Today on the show we’ll talk with Patricia Borns who reported the story for the News Press about what she uncovered.

We’ll also talk with local pastor and Dunbar resident Willie Green about the neighborhood’s reaction to the news that a city lot where kids play in the dirt, may also be home to arsenic.

CORRECTION: WGCU originally wrote, "Acquaviva did not return WGCU’s calls for comment," but it should read "call."

Lee County is once again looking for the chemical arsenic on Pine Island. That’s after documents surfaced from a few years ago showing arsenic levels hundreds and sometimes thousands of times higher than the federal government allows on private and public lands.